R.D. Abbott Promotes New German RepRap LAM 3D Printer and Dow Performance Silicones 3D Printable SILASTIC™ 3D 3335 Liquid Silicone Rubber Capabilities

RDAbbott featured the latest addition to its technical services portfolio, a Liquid Additive Manufacturing (LAM) 3D Printer, at the 2017 International Elastomer Conference in Cleveland, Ohio.

This revolutionary, patent-pending LAM 3D Printer was developed by German RepRap GmbH, the leading German manufacturer for fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printers, and was designed to run with 3D printable SILASTIC™ 3D 3335 Liquid Silicone Rubber from Dow Performance Silicones.

“At RDAbbott, we are passionate about providing productive technical support to our customers and supplier partners,” stated Rick Ziebell, vice president of technology for RDAbbott. “With this new LAM 3D Printer, we can assist our customers with their LSR designs by providing fast turn-around prototype parts. This provides assuredness in design and streamlines the process of moving from the design phase to production.”

German RepRap designed its LAM 3D Printer to print successive layers of SILASTIC™ 3D 3335 Liquid Silicone Rubber in a method comparable to the FFF process. Thus, it can form complex silicone parts that would be difficult or impossible to achieve through conventional injection molding. Each layer of silicone is fully cross-linked through thermal cure to enable parts with mechanical properties that are comparable to molded components.

The breakthrough materials technology in SILASTIC™ 3D 3335 Liquid Silicone Rubber is perhaps the first Dow Performance Silicones solution to be formulated specifically for designers seeking to combine the performance benefits of silicone with the design and processing advantages of their additive manufacturing process.

German RepRap’s LAM platform combined with SILASTIC™ 3D 3335 Liquid Silicone Rubber is potentially capable of printing functional prototypes and enabling small manufacturing trials of complex parts. Further, the material’s properties closely match those of molded liquid silicone rubber, allowing an easy transfer into injection molding processes for high-volume manufacturing.

More than simply a technological achievement,” said Kris Verschueren, global innovation program manager at Dow Performance Silicones, “this material introduces the power and versatility of silicone technology into the realm of 3D printing. Our customers can now combine the uniquely beneficial properties of our silicones with faster prototype development and small series production of highly complex parts.”

RDAbbott, German RepRap and Dow Performance Silicones are committed to collaborating with leading equipment makers to extend the benefits of their industry-leading silicone materials, additives manufacturing technologies and elastomer expertise to the fast-growing field of 3D printing. Proof of design with printed prototype parts is a new service exclusively from RDAbbott.

“Our Applied Curiosity into new and collaborative technologies continues,” summarized Ziebell.

To learn more about this new LAM 3D printing technology, contact RDAbbott.